Over the weekend, I got a chance to use my DSLR equipment to capture a friend's wedding...

I wasn't the official photographer at all and I didn't get paid So relax...
I took the pictures for my personal use and practice purposes...

Here are some notes/mistakes...

-I learned that 1/60 shutter speed is not enough to freeze the motion when people waving their hands or even walking fast. I had to toss many good composed pictures due to motion blur
-In conjuction with the above, I learned that using aperture priority mode all the time is NOT a good idea as the shutter speed may get too slow causing ugly motion blurs.
-I learned that just because you have a fast lens(EF 50mm f/1.4) and it can do great background blur, it doesn't mean that you should shoot at the lowest f stop all the time!!! Tossed some good shots due to way too shallow DOF. No problem when all of your subjects are in the same plane. But if they are not, then the shot is in the trash... If you know what I mean...
-I learned that just because the picture looks sharp on the 3.0" LCD screen, doesn't mean that the picture is really sharp!!! Always zoom in to make sure!...
-I learned that -Although I hate using it- sometimes flash is just required or you won't capture the moment. I did NOT use flash at all and the indoor shots were pretty good because the all walls have reflective color and the lighting was good enough. But in the reception area, background was dark and trying to take non-flash pictures with dark background is almost impossible. I will learn how to use speedlite soon
-I learned that changing lens could cost you many beautiful shots. This happened to me If you have 2 cameras, no problem but if you have one (like me), it is better to have one moderate range zoom lens so you don't lose time while changing lenses.

Anyways, the above were my observations/notes. I used Canon 500D with 18-55mm f3.5/5.6 Kit lens plus 50mm f/1.4 prime lens.
I shot at Av mode all day keeping the lowest f stop and auto ISO so I can get the fastest shutter speed. I am now thinking that I should change this. Next time, I will shoot in Tv (I am not at the level to shoot in manual mode yet) or at least I will pay attention to my shutter speed!...

My autofocus mode was set to Al-Focus, drive mode was continuous, metering was evaluvative...

Anyways, I am open to any suggestions/corrections on the above paragraph if you are knowledgeable with wedding photography...

sounds like some good all around tips / lessons, one thing i suggest, as i have been doing, when you see someone comment on how you could improve in a certen situation write it down, i have been doing that alot lateley and it can come in very handy i have figured out, i even write stuff down that i read in books or mags that i think might come in handy

I shot at Av mode all day keeping the lowest f stop and auto ISO so I can get the fastest shutter speed. I am now thinking that I should change this. Next time, I will shoot in Tv (I am not at the level to shoot in manual mode yet) or at least I will pay attention to my shutter speed!...

Click to expand...

It's not that easy.

For example, lets say you were shooting with the zoom at 55mm, in Av and at F5.6 and 1/60. If you switch the camera to Tv and input 1/125, the aperture still can't open up any more than F5.6. So either your photo would be under exposed, or the aperture display would just flash and the camera wouldn't fire.

Of course, if you weren't at the max aperture, it would work. But if you know that you are just trying to get a faster shutter speed, you don't have to switch to Tv, just open the aperture more while in Av.
And you should know that if you are already at your maximum aperture, in Av, then that's the fasted shutter speed you will get. It's not uncommon to have to use ISO 400, 800, 1600 or higher...if your camera can handle it.
Noise is often a lesser evil than blur.

Of course, the missing variable is ISO. So when you can't get the shutter speed you need and are already at the maximum aperture (or you need to stop down for more DOF) then your next option is to turn up the ISO.

I would defintely consider prime lenses (EF 50mm f/1.4) to be ideal for posed shots, not so much for anything else. The mid range zoom lens would be more ideal for the ceremony/reception.

Click to expand...

Yes, I have many pictures (good and bad) but since this is a wedding and I pictured other individuals, I decided not to publish any of them here... Instead I made notes...

50mm primes lens is just unbelievable to make your subject stand out and it is awesome in low light conditions. The only problem is that it feel too long sometimes and since it doesn't have a zoom, you need to get away from your subject to compose it. If there are people behind youm this is not possible
Also when you are too close to your subject, the lens cannot focus fast. I missed a few very good shots because lens couldn't focus

I shot at Av mode all day keeping the lowest f stop and auto ISO so I can get the fastest shutter speed. I am now thinking that I should change this. Next time, I will shoot in Tv (I am not at the level to shoot in manual mode yet) or at least I will pay attention to my shutter speed!...

Click to expand...

It's not that easy.

For example, lets say you were shooting with the zoom at 55mm, in Av and at F5.6 and 1/60. If you switch the camera to Tv and input 1/125, the aperture still can't open up any more than F5.6. So either your photo would be under exposed, or the aperture display would just flash and the camera wouldn't fire.

Of course, if you weren't at the max aperture, it would work. But if you know that you are just trying to get a faster shutter speed, you don't have to switch to Tv, just open the aperture more while in Av.
And you should know that if you are already at your maximum aperture, in Av, then that's the fasted shutter speed you will get. It's not uncommon to have to use ISO 400, 800, 1600 or higher...if your camera can handle it.
Noise is often a lesser evil than blur.

Of course, the missing variable is ISO. So when you can't get the shutter speed you need and are already at the maximum aperture (or you need to stop down for more DOF) then your next option is to turn up the ISO.

Click to expand...

I agree Mike. I thought about it too. If my aperture is as open as it could be and I am running the highest possible ISO, and the shutter speed is still not enough, this means I am already at my max level and I have nothing but to use external light source.
But there were a few shots where I had the ISO under 400 and the f stop was a step or two above the minimum and I got motion blur due to 1/50 shutter speed. In those circumstances, I could easily go up to 1/100 shutter speed and still get the correct exposure. That's why I made that comment.
Actually my paragraph (you quoted) should have said:

"I shot at Av mode most of the day trying to keep the lowest f stop and auto ISO so I can get the fastest shutter speed. But there were a few shots where the camera wasn't running on high ISO and my f stop was a stop or two above the lowest. Because I didn't pay attention to the shutter speed, I got motion blur at 1/50. For these shots, I could have easily gone up to 1/100 shutter speed and still have the correct exposure. I am now thinking that I should pay more attention to my shutter speed next time. For certain shots, It might be possible to use faster shutter without being under exposed."

Thanks for pointing it out

In the end though, I am really happy with the result. One learns as he/she makes mistakes... Next time, I will do much better...